Dynamics of Life: Large-Scale Simulations of the Behavior of Small Bodies in Systems of Multiple Large Bodies
Open Access
- Author:
- Worth, Rachel J
- Graduate Program:
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- October 06, 2016
- Committee Members:
- Steinn Sigurdsson, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Steinn Sigurdsson, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Jason Thomas Wright, Committee Member
Eric B Ford, Committee Member
Christopher Howard House, Outside Member - Keywords:
- astrophysics
astronomy
astrodynamics
n-body simulations
Alpha Centauri
lithopanspermia
astrobiology
planet formation - Abstract:
- Gravity is of fundamental importance to all astronomical objects: it dictates where matter goes, and therefore what it is able to become, from superclusters of galaxies to dust around a star. While the underlying principles are straightforward, all but the simplest gravitationally bound systems quickly become chaotic and unpredictable. This is where my research resides: I am interested in how orbital dynamics affects life in the universe. For life to exist, it first needs a place to grow; I study the formation of planetary systems to understand where habitable planets may reside and how common they are. A large fraction of all stars have stellar companions, which implies that most potential planetary systems form in multistellar systems, yet studies and models of planet formation so far have focused on systems with a single star. I study the stability of circumstellar disks and the formation of planets in environments with two or three stars, in order to better constrain which stars are appropriate targets for planet searches, in terms of both the size of planets that may form and their habitability based on location. I also explore an alternative algorithm for simulating the formation of planets from a planetesimal disk, which dramatically reduces the necessary computation time. In addition, in order to understand how common life may be, I study lithopanspermia, the transfer of life between planets on rock fragments ejected by meteorite impacts. In order to predict how common life is, we must determine how easy it is for life to arise on a planet. This topic is entangled with transfer between planets, and by better understanding the constraints of such transfer we can better understand how common life may be.